Once Upon A Dream
by MissAsten
Summary: Bella Smith can't wait for the man of her dreams to take her to prom. But he isn't all he seems... Can she love the real him?
1. Chapter 1

The pretty young brunette gently blew her hair out of her face as she carefully took the tray over to the table. "One tea."  
Her voice broke Basil's train of thought as he looked into her blue eyes and said, "Oh, thank you."  
Bella Smith sighed. She'd only been on this job for two hours and already she was bored. Still, it was a good way to earn a bit of money while she was still studying, she guessed. Luckily she had her new friend Stephanie in the kitchen to keep her company.  
"I can't wait until this day is over!" she wailed.  
"Calm down, Bel," Steph laughed, "we've only just started!"  
"Sorry," Bella replied. "I'm just thinking about tomorrow night..." Her eyes clouded over in a dreamy kind of way. The following night was her high school prom, and she was spending it with her first boyfriend, Nick, who she had been with for 3 months.  
"You are such a girl," Steph teased.  
Bella looked at her with a sarcastic look in her eyes. "Nah, really? Nice one, genius."  
Stephanie rolled her eyes as she continued to wash the dishes in front of her.  
*BEEP*  
The familiar sound of Bella's phone rang out into the kitchen.  
"You have mail," Steph said.  
Bella checked her phone. It was a message from Nick.  
"What's wrong?" Steph asked, seeing the sad look in Bella's eyes.  
Bella showed her the message.  
_Hi Bel, I know this isnt the right way to do this but I think we need to break up. I know its prom tomorrow night and I'm really sorry, but there is some one else. Nick. x _  
The girls walked back into the main area of the cafe, tears in Bella's eyes. "What am I going to do?"  
Basil noticed the girl was upset and his ears pricked up. He'd only admit it to himself, but he thought this new girl was pretty cute. Not that he'd ever have a chance with her; she must have only been about sixteen. And anyway, he thought, she would probably prefer to be with some other guy. Some other _human_ guy.  
Stephanie put her arm around her friend. "You can still go to prom..."  
"Yeah, but it's much better to go with someone," Bella said sadly. "There just aren't any nice guys around here. They're all the same."  
Now Basil was _really_ listening. Even he knew he was different to most of the boys in this place - in more ways than one. Not only was he short and fluffy with a large tail - he knew how to treat a girl right. Of course, Bella didn't know that last part yet.. but he hoped that maybe he might get a chance to show her.  
"Surely a tall, dark, handsome lad who knows what a girl needs is not too much to ask?" Bella sighed to Stephanie.  
_Damn it,_ Basil thought.  
Tall, dark and handsome, he was not. That was for sure.  
Now, though, this new girl had totally won him over.  
He needed to take action. Fast.

Maddie was reading her book when the doorbell rang. "It's open," she called, barely looking up from the page.  
She was surprised to see her friend standing in the doorway, with a worried look on his face. "Basil, what's up?"  
"Miss Madison, I have a problem," he began. "You see, there's this girl. A new girl who works in the cafe."  
Maddie giggled. "Sounds like someone has a little crush! Why don't you ask her out?"  
"That's the problem," Basil continued. "You know what these girls are like... they want a bloke who looks like he could be the fifth member of JLS or nothing at all!"  
"How do you know she's like that?" Maddie asked.  
"I heard her talking to her friend," he said sadly. "'Tall, dark and handsome'. That's what she wants. And that's not me!"  
Maddie rolled her eyes. "Just talk to her..."  
"What's the point? She'll never like me."  
Maddie thought for a moment. Then she had an idea...  
"There is a way I can help you... But, it comes at a price."  
"I'm listening," Basil said eagerly.  
"If you really want to make this girl like you," Maddie explained, "then the only way to make sure of that is to become human yourself."  
The thought made Basil's eyes almost pop out of his head. "No way. Not gonna happen."  
"Then I'm afraid I can't help you, Bas," Maddie sighed. "Unless of course, you wanted to just talk to her..."  
"No! You know what, just do it... I'll do anything."  
Maddie was gobsmacked. "This girl must really be special."  
"She is. She's like a princess."  
"Very well then," Maddie said. "All I have to do is put a spell on you and you'll be the dude of this girl's dreams. Oh, but there's one last thing. It only lasts 24 hours."  
"Thank goodness for that," Basil sighed with relief.  
"But that does mean you'll have to come back on time if you don't want to reveal your true self..."  
"OK, let's do it!"  
Maddie smiled. "Come back to my place at 10.30 tonight. That should give you plenty of time tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

When Basil woke up the next day, he wasn't feeling quite himself. Probably because he had grown about 5 feet taller since yesterday, and he now had hands instead of paws. The weirdest thing of all, though, was that his tail was now gone. He panicked for a moment, but then breathed a sigh of relief as he remembered that his pride and joy would be firmly attached to his ass where it belonged in less than 12 hours' time.

For now, though, it was all about the girl. All about Bella.

He sat up in bed, hitting his head on the top bunk as he forgot for a moment how tall he now was. "OW!" he exclaimed. He carefully turned himself around and got out of the bed slowly. He made his way to the bathroom to inspect his 'new self' in the mirror. "Hmm, not bad," he said out loud. He combed his red hair into a 'cool' style, and that made him realise something.

As if on cue, Maddie entered through the front door, smiling as usual. "Hey, guys," she grinned.

Basil walked right up to her. "Madison," he said firmly, pointing to his hair, "I said tall, _dark _and handsome."

Maddie giggled. "You get what you're given I guess. And besides, you wouldn't want to lose yourself completely, would you?"

Basil sighed. She had a point.

"Now," Madison continued, "go get yourself ready and ask that girl to prom before someone else gets in there before you!"

In the café, Bella was sipping a large hot chocolate, her eyes transfixed on her copy of _heat_ magazine. She barely looked up when her friend Stephanie walked out of the kitchen to serve a customer.

"Olly Murs is looking _hot _today," she gushed, ogling her favourite popstar on the _Torso of the Week_ page.

Steph rolled her eyes. She knew her friend was only trying to compensate for the fact that she was _so _not over her ex-boyfriend.

"Good luck getting _him _to ask you to prom," she said sarcastically.

Bella sighed. "If I'm mentally dating a celebrity, I can't get hurt, can I?"

She was about to answer her with some kind of smart-ass comment when they heard the bell sound, signalling a new customer entering the café. Both Steph and Bella turned their attention to a handsome young man, with red hair and brown eyes, wearing a green hoodie and jeans, his hands in his pockets trying to look cool. They'd never seen this boy before, but Steph was instantly interested.

"He's hot," she whispered to her friend.

"Ew," Bella replied in disgust. "He's a _ginger._" She made the word 'ginger' rhyme with 'singer'.

"Shut up, Bel! He's coming this way!"

"He's all yours!" Bella replied.

"Ladies…?" the lad said as he made his way up to the counter, his brown eyes sparkling.

"I'll leave you guys to it…" Steph said knowingly as she made her way back into the kitchen. "You need a man more than I do."

Bella groaned, realising her friend had abandoned her to deal with this customer all on her own. "What can I get you?"

"A cup of tea," he answered, "and maybe some indication of what you're doing tonight?"

Bella laughed. That was the worst chat-up line she'd ever heard. "I'll get your tea, but if you're looking for a date, you should ask my mate Steph. I think she likes you."

"Too bad!" the boy laughed back. Then he leaned in close. "Between you and me, you're _much_ nicer than her."

Bella was flattered and a little more interested now, even though she wouldn't admit that to anyone, especially Steph. She placed the steaming cup of tea down on the counter in front of the boy. "My name's Bella."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Baaaa…" He stopped for a second. Revealing his real name would give her a hint of who – and what –he really was. "I'm Bas."

"Nice to meet you too," Bella smiled. It was the prettiest smile Basil had ever seen. "So… about tonight…"

In that instant, Stephanie returned from the kitchen. "Got a date yet?" she asked Bella impatiently.

'Bas' heard her. "We're getting to that," he explained.

Bella blushed.

"It's her school prom tonight," Steph told Bas. "She's got no one to go with after her boyfriend dumped her yesterday."

"Well, that's perfect!" he exclaimed. "If you'd like to, I mean."

Before Bella could answer, Steph answered for her. "She'd love to."

Bella scolded her mate and Bas giggled at the two of them. "That's that then," he smiled. "I'll pick you up later."

"She'll be waiting," Steph replied as if Bella couldn't talk.

As Bas turned to leave the café, Bella gave Steph a look of pure annoyance. "Thanks a lot."

Steph shrugged. "At least that dress won't go to waste now."

Bas froze. He hadn't thought about what he was going to wear.

He needed Madison's help again.


End file.
